New York Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog
According to a recent Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (“AWC”) submitted by broker Brian Berger with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Mr. Berger has been banned from associating with a broker-dealer in the securities industry. According to the AWC, in June 2015 FINRA “initiated an investigation into allegations that Mr. Berger had misappropriated funds from elderly customers with registered with Wells Fargo Advisors LLC and MetLife Securities, Inc.” Mr. Berger was reported to be licensed by Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC from July 2010 through July 2014, and with MetLife Securities, Inc. from July 2014 to April 2015. It is further reported that he was briefly licensed by a different broker-dealer named Newbridge Securities Corporation from April to June 2015.
As stated in the AWC, Mr. Berger did not to voluntarily participate in FINRA’s investigation, and as a result was barred from the securities industry.
Mr. Berger’s publicly available CRD Report describes several customer complaints that he has faced since 2011. The CRD Report shows that a customer alleged that there were unauthorized payments made against the customer’s account for discover card accounts owned by the financial advisor. Though reported that the customer alleged damages of approximately $175,000, the allegations were reported as settled for approximately $186,000.